GNI PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF

EXPRESSION AND PRIVACY

Contents

1. Preamble
2. Freedom of Expression
3. Privacy
4. Responsible Company Decision Making
5. Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration
6. Governance, Accountability & Transparency

Annex A: Definitions
Annex B: Endnotes

1. Preamble

These Global Principles on Freedom of Expression and Privacy (“the Principles”)

have been developed by companies, investors, civil society organizations and
academics (collectively “the participants”) who aim to protect and advance
freedom of expression and privacy in the Information and Communications
Technology (ICT) industry globally.​1

These Principles are based on internationally recognized laws and standards for
human rights, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (“UDHR”), the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (“ICCPR”) and the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“ICESCR”).​2, 3​ The
application of these Principles is informed by the UN Guiding Principles on
Business and Human Rights (“UN Guiding Principles”), the ‘Protect, Respect, and
Remedy’ Framework, and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.​4

All human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated: the

improvement of one right facilitates advancement of the others; the deprivation
of one right adversely affects others. Freedom of expression and privacy are an
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explicit part of this international framework of human rights and are enabling
rights that facilitate the meaningful realization of other human rights.​5

The duty of governments to respect, protect, promote and fulfill human rights is
the foundation of this human rights framework. That duty includes ensuring that
national laws, regulations and policies are consistent with international human
rights laws and standards on freedom of expression and privacy.

ICT companies have the responsibility to respect and promote the freedom of
expression and privacy rights of their users. ICT has the potential to enable the
exchange of ideas and access to information in a way that supports economic
opportunity, advances knowledge and improves quality of life. By implementing
these Principles, ICT companies can also work to protect, promote and support
human rights, including through improved responsible decision-making, shared
learning and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
The collaboration between the ICT industry, investors, civil society organizations,
academics and other stakeholders can strengthen efforts to work with
governments to advance freedom of expression and privacy globally.

ICT companies should comply with all applicable laws and respect internationally
recognized human rights, wherever they operate. If national laws, regulations
and policies do not conform to international standards, ICT companies should
avoid, minimize, or otherwise address the adverse impact of government
demands, laws, or regulations, and seek ways to honor the principles of
internationally recognized human rights to the greatest extent possible. ICT
companies should also be able to demonstrate their efforts in this regard. For
these reasons, these Principles and their accompanying Implementation
Guidelines establish a framework to provide direction and guidance to the ICT
industry and its stakeholders in protecting and advancing the enjoyment of
human rights globally.

The participants have also developed a multi-stakeholder governance structure to

ensure accountability for the implementation of these Principles and their
continued relevance, effectiveness and impact. This includes transparency with
the public, independent evaluation and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

The participants will seek to extend the number of organizations from around the
world supporting these Principles so that they can take root as a global standard.

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 Principles on Freedom of
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2. Freedom of Expression

Freedom of opinion and expression is a human right and guarantor of human

dignity. The right to freedom of opinion and expression includes the freedom to
hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information
and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.​6

Freedom of opinion and expression supports an informed citizenry and is vital to

ensuring public and private sector accountability. Broad public access to
information and the freedom to create and communicate ideas are critical to the
advancement of knowledge, economic opportunity and human potential.

The right to freedom of expression should not be restricted by governments,

except in narrowly defined circumstances based on internationally recognized
laws or standards.​ 7​ These restrictions should be consistent with international
human rights laws or standards, the rule of law and be necessary and
proportionate for the relevant purpose.​8​ 9​

• Participating companies will respect and work to protect the freedom of

expression of their users by seeking to avoid or minimize the impact of
government restrictions on freedom of expression, including restrictions
on the information available to users and the opportunities for users to
create and communicate ideas and information, regardless of frontiers or
media of communication.

• Participating companies will respect and work to protect the freedom of

expression rights of users when confronted with government​10​ demands,
laws and regulations to suppress freedom of expression, remove content or
otherwise limit access to communications, ideas and information in a
manner inconsistent with internationally recognized laws and standards.

3. Privacy

Privacy is a human right and guarantor of human dignity. Privacy is important to

maintaining personal security, protecting identity and promoting freedom of
expression in the digital age.
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 Principles on Freedom of
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Everyone should be free from illegal or arbitrary interference with the right to
privacy and should have the right to the protection of the law against such
interference or attacks.​11

The right to privacy should not be restricted by governments, except in narrowly

defined circumstances based on internationally recognized laws and standards.
These restrictions should be consistent with international human rights laws or
standards, the rule of law and be necessary and proportionate for the relevant
purpose.

• Participating companies will employ protections with respect to personal

information in all countries where they operate in order to work to protect
the privacy rights of users.

• Participating companies will respect and work to protect the privacy rights
of users when confronted with government demands, laws or regulations
that compromise privacy in a manner inconsistent with internationally
recognized laws and standards.

4. Responsible Company Decision Making

The implementation of these Principles by participating companies requires their

integration into company decision making and culture through responsible
policies, procedures and processes.

• Participating companies will ensure that the company Board, senior

officers and others responsible for key decisions that impact freedom of
expression and privacy are fully informed of these Principles and how they
may be best advanced.

• Participating companies will identify circumstances where freedom of

expression and privacy may be jeopardized or advanced and integrate
these Principles into their decision making in these circumstances.

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 Principles on Freedom of
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• Participating companies, when implementing these Principles, ​will always

seek to ensure​ the safety and liberty of company personnel who may be
placed at risk.

• Participating companies will implement these Principles when they have

operational control. When they do not have operational control,
participating companies will use best efforts to ensure that business
partners, investments, suppliers, distributors and other relevant related
parties follow these Principles.​12 13​ 14
​

5. Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

The development of collaborative strategies involving business, industry

associations, civil society organizations, investors and academics will be critical
to the achievement of these Principles.

While infringement on freedom of expression and privacy are not new concerns,
the violation of these rights in the context of the growing use of ICT is new, global,
complex and constantly evolving. For this reason, shared learning, public policy
engagement and other multi-stakeholder collaboration will advance the
enjoyment of these Principles.

• Participants will take a collaborative approach to problem solving and

explore new ways in which the collective learning from multiple
stakeholders can be used to advance freedom of expression and privacy.

• Individually and collectively, participants will engage governments and

international institutions to promote the rule of law and the adoption of
laws, policies and practices that protect, respect and fulfil freedom of
expression and privacy.​15

6. Governance, Accountability & Transparency

These Principles require a governance structure that supports their purpose and
ensures their long term success.

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 Principles on Freedom of
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To ensure the effectiveness of these Principles participants must be held

accountable for their role in the advancement and implementation of these
Principles.

• Participants will adhere to a collectively determined governance structure

that defines the roles and responsibilities of participants, ensures
accountability and promotes the advancement of these Principles.

• Participants will be held accountable through a system of (a) transparency

with the public and (b) independent assessment and evaluation of the
implementation of these Principles.

Annex A: Definitions

Freedom of Expression: ​Freedom of expression is defined using Article 19 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR):

UDHR:​ Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right
includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and
impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

ICCPR:​ 1. Everyone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include
freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds,
regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or
through any other media of his choice.
3. The exercise of the rights provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries
with it special duties and responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain
restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are
necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of
public health or morals.

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 Principles on Freedom of
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Privacy: ​We define privacy using Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights (UDHR) and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR):

UDHR:​ No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy,

family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation.
Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks.

ICCPR: ​1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his
privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honour
and reputation.

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or
attacks.

Rule of Law: ​A system of transparent, predictable and accessible laws and

independent legal institutions and processes which respect, protect, promote and
fulfill human rights.

Personal Information:​ Participants are aware of the range of definitions for

“personal information” or “personally identifiable information” and
acknowledge that these definitions vary between jurisdictions. These Principles
use the term “personal information” and interpret this to mean information that
can, alone or in aggregate, be used to identify or locate an individual (such as
name, email address or billing information) or information which can be
reasonably linked, directly or indirectly, with other information to identify or
locate an individual.

User:​ Any individual using a publicly available electronic communications

service, for private or business purposes, with or without having subscribed to
this service.

Best Efforts:​ The participating company will, in good faith, undertake reasonable
steps to achieve the best result in the circumstances and carry the process to its
logical conclusion.

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 Principles on Freedom of
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Annex B: Endnotes

1. This reference to "protect" does not mean that Participants have the State's
duty to protect human rights. Rather, GNI Participants work to protect privacy
and freedom of expression by implementing these Principles, including
developing collaborative strategies to engage governments.
2. It is recognized that other regional human rights instruments address the
issues of freedom of expression and privacy, including: The European
Convention, implemented by the European Court of Human Rights; the American
Convention, implemented by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and
Inter-American Commission; and the Organization of African Unity, implemented
by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights.
3. These Principles have also been drafted with reference to the World Summit
on the Information Society Tunis Agenda for the Information Society.
4. These Principles were originally launched in 2008, prior to the endorsement of
the UN Guiding Principles by the UN Human Rights Council in June 2011 and the
2011 update to the OECD Guidelines.
5. It should be noted that the specific scope of these Principles is limited to
freedom of expression and privacy.
6. Taken from Article 19 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article of
19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. It should be noted
that these Articles reference the right to “freedom of opinion and expression”,
and then describe the limited circumstances in which the right to “freedom of
expression” (i.e. not opinion) can be restricted. That is the approach taken by
these Principles.
7. The narrowly defined circumstances should be taken from Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), namely the actions
necessary to preserve national security and public order, protect public health or
morals, or safeguard the rights or reputations of others. The scope of permissible
restrictions provided in Article 19(3) of the ICCPR is read within the context of
further interpretations issued by international human rights bodies, including
the Human Rights Committee and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
8. See Annex A for an illustrative definition of Rule of Law.
9. These Principles have been drafted with reference to the Johannesburg
Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access to

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 Principles on Freedom of
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Information. These Principles provide further guidance on how and when

restrictions to freedom of expression may be exercised.
10. Participating companies will also need to address situations where
governments may make demands through proxies and other third parties.
11. Taken from Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
12. “Operational control” means the power, directly or indirectly, to direct or
cause the direction of the management and policies of the entity. This may be by
contract, ownership of voting stock or representation on the Board of Directors or
similar governing body.
13. See Annex A for a definition of Best Efforts.
14. It is recognized that the influence of the participating company will vary
across different relationships and contractual arrangements. It is also recognized
that this principle applies to business partners, suppliers, investments,
distributors and other relevant related parties that are involved in the
participating company’s business in a manner that materially affects the
company’s role in respecting and protecting privacy and freedom of expression.
The participating company should prioritize circumstances where it has greatest
influence and/or where the risk to freedom of expression and privacy is at its
greatest.
15. It is recognized that participants may take different positions on specific
public policy proposals or strategies, so long as they are consistent with these
Principles​.

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